I'm from Central Texas and when I was growing up we called everything a soda pop. The last 25-30 years we are saying soda pop and coke. My husband is from Wisconsin and he grew up calling soft drinks pops. Took him awhile but he learned to say coke or soda pop like the rest of us do. He still can't bring him to say awl for oil, member for remember, etc. Someday we'll get him to talking the right way!

I'm from Ohio and have traveled various parts of my beautiful state. Pop seems to dominate from Cleveland to Cincy. I've always said it and most of western PA seems to say Pop also. I've heard it in Pitt, Franklin and Erie. I have friends from FL and we rag on each other while visiting just over this debate. Its a great base of American culture. Its also great visiting various states and not realizing your out of your realm until you see that look on the waitress or waiter's face when you ask for pop to drink.

This dialect stuff greatly interests me. I worry about the homogenization of American English, don't want to lose the different flavors throughout the nation. I scored 88% Rebel, it asked if I still used Confederate money. I love to hear all the different accents wherever I travel in the US. But one word I have to say that I find particularly grating for some reason is Pop. Had a good friend from Albany who always used Pop, until we teased her so hard that she quit. Now she says Coke for soft drink, just like any sane Texan. Pop is the name we called my grandfather. Pop reminds me of popcorn. Or maybe a lollipop. But certainly not something to drink!!

flossied wrote:But one word I have to say that I find particularly grating for some reason is Pop.

And "soda" sounds...grating...to someone who grew up around "pop". Of course, if the mind can accept one arbitrary term, it can adjust to another with proper motivation. Sounds like you found a successful motivation for your friend!

This discussion reminds me of a mind-opener I heard in my first month at a small, midwestern college. A few of the students from the East Coast and the Deep South were just appalled that the ranch- and farm-based kids (especially the males) called each other "guys". After the initial horror wore off, they seemed to find it hilarious, and would say "you guys" with exagerated pronunciation, cracking themselves up every time.

So I asked, "Well, what do you call each other?" The reply, in the tone used to point out the painfully obvious, was "Fellas".

"Fellas!!!" The locals in earshot experienced immediate comedy seizures right in the hall.

One of the benefits of a pluralistic society: you never know when you will have an opportunity to broaden your mind--hopefully with fully-functional humor.

-gailr
who, after all these years, can still not bring herself to say "fellas"...

gailr wrote: . . . A few of the students from the East Coast and the Deep South were just appalled that the ranch- and farm-based kids (especially the males) called each other "guys". After the initial horror wore off, they seemed to find it hilarious, and would say "you guys" with exagerated pronunciation, cracking themselves up every time.

So I asked, "Well, what do you call each other?" The reply, in the tone used to point out the painfully obvious, was "Fellas".

"Fellas!!!" The locals in earshot experienced immediate comedy seizures right in the hall. . . .

-gailrwho, after all these years, can still not bring herself to say "fellas"...

I can't speak for the Deep South, but what part of the East Coast were those guys from?

Regards//Larry

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them." -- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee

I am from Chicago and we call it pop. I have a lot of family in the south and they all call it coke no matter what type of pop they want. Sometimes they will say soda. I was down there visiting one time and my young cousin said he was thirsty. So I asked him if he wanted a pop. He thought I was going to hit him. After his mom got done laughing she explained to him what I meant.

I grew up in Michigan. We would shift back and forth between soda pop and soft drinks. When we asked if someone wanted a coke or a ginger ale, we meant the actual beverage, not a generic concept.

As to how Northern or Southern soda pop is, Hank Williams was born in Mount Olive West Alabama and then grew up in Georgiana and Montgomery (and spent a goodish time in Louisiana as well). In Hey Hey Good Lookin' he has the line "...they've got soda pop and the dancing is free, so if you want a good time come along with me."

If soda pop is good enough for Hank it just maht could be good enough for us'ns. (Tim, didin't we have a string about us'ns and you'uns in the old Agora?)

"Time is nature's way of keeping everything from happening all at once. Lately it hasn't been working."Anonymous

I grew up in Western PA and we always called it 'pop'. In the summer I would visit relatives in Allegany Co, MD, just 70 miles away and was shocked to here them selling 'tonic' at the baseball games. Later learned that is what is was called over there

I have lived in the far eastern 'burbs and rural areas of Cleveland, Ohio all my life. I used to use "pop" to refer to most carbonated beverages, except when I wanted a particular brand name, usually Pepsi or an RC Co. Cola. I switched to using soda after a while, I'm not sure when, it just sort of happened. So, now I use soda as the catch all phrase for carbonated beverages.

I grew up in Up-State New York and have been in Up-State South Carolina for two years now; I have always said soda. The friends that I have here, say soda; and this is where they were born and raised.
Have a great day.

I grew up in Southwestern WV we called it Pop there. I moved to Florida and it is everything there since Florida is a melting pot of dialects. I now reside just outside of Atlanta and every thing here is a Coke (yes this is the home of Coca Cola) but Pepsi (any variety) is Coke the only thing that isn't Coke and is certainly regional is Good Ol SWEET TEA!!! Which should be added to the yankee test because the further north you get the less sugar is put in tea. And some places even look at you funny if you ask for sweet tea and say I am sorry our tea is unsweetened but we have sugar on the table....just not the same